short swords and daggers for thieves?

Remove all ads!

In the long run, is it worth it for proficiency points into these weapons?

 

IMO no. It is better to have long swords and ranged weapons (bows or crossbows). Unless you are thinking of using a dual wielding swashbuckler?

 

Sylvan is right, stick with longswords and katanas.

 

It's better for you to put your points into longswords. Unlike NWN and IWD2, a thief with high dextertity doesn't get bonuses when using small bladed weapons.

 

Short Swords are underappreciated. This is a TOB forum, so, immediately after exiting Irenicus' dungeon you can collect a bit of money (easy for a thief) and purchase the short sword of Mask. So, early in Chapter 2 you have a +4 weapon and when it is upgraded it becomes really nice imo. Also, you can dual with kundane +2 which is one of the most useful offhand weapons in the game as it gives you an extra attack per round which really shows up if you are a multi or dual fighter/thief. Throw in short swords that grant you mirror image, free action etc short swords can be a nice choice. This is particularly true as it allows you to use longswords and the like for other characters if desired.

Also, daggers are well worth it since there are some excellent throwing daggers in the game. I've tried using daggers for melee (usually in the offhand) but am disappointed that the special effects don't kick in as often as I'd like -- still, as a thrown weapon they are outstanding. This, again, will allow you to use some of the bows with other characters.

So, I wouldn't quickly dismiss them. I personally feel they are superior for a thief from a roleplaying standpoint. From a power standpoint you can certainly hold your own with them, and if you are playing in a group it may even be the power of the group is greater if your thief is using shortswords and daggers and letting others use the other weapons.

Finally, there are more than enough proficiency points to go around.

 

I dont know how but i never remembered Kundane +2 to give you an extra attack (only that i has 0 speed factor). Now i trust my memory and i just did a check in shadowkeeper = it doesnt say anywhere that it gives you 1 extra attack.

Am i missing something here? Another unwritten effect?

 

I'm certain it gives you an extra attack, just like Belm. My multiclass fighter/thief had 5 attacks per round. Three from being a fighter with specialization. One more for using the off hand for four. And the bonus attack from kundane for a total of five. There are other links on the SOA board that will verify this.

With 5 attacks per round you'll get 4 attacks with your main weapon and 1 with the offhand. So, as long as the monster can be hit with a +2 weapon it really pays to have kundane/belm in the offhand coupled with a strong mainhand weapon since kundane/belm are giving your mainhand weapon an extra attack.

That's why kundane/belm are considered among the best offhand weapon choices. The other is Crom Faeyer (sp?) which gives you the 25 str. The only weakness of kundane/belm is they are +2 so if something requires +3 or better you'll need to switch out -- really there aren't many of those out there in SOA and by TOB there still hit most things with it and you'll have plenty of proficency points by then too.

It's also part of why it's better for a fighter/thief who uses belm/kundane to invest in assassination and not as many greater whirlwinds. Unless something is immune to backstab, assassination at 5 hits per round will deal more damage than greater whirlwind at 10 hits per round. The fewer attacks per round you have normally the closer the call becomes.

EDIT -- here is a link talking about the extra attack it gives:

http://www.sorcerers.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=004096#000004

[ November 10, 2002, 20:59: Message edited by: Laches ]